Factors associated with food choice among high school students in Depok, Indonesia

Background: Well-being in adulthood are originated from diet behaviour during adolescence. Recently, hurry-up lifestyle of adolescents leads to unusual food choice and results in overnutrition issues. So, the food choice is studied in order to improve the nutritional status of adolescents. Objectives: To explore food choice among high school students in Depok, Indonesia and identify its associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study, using online questionnaires through instant messaging, is conducted from April to May 2020. Food choice is observed through Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) and analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The questionnaires in this study were tested for validity and reliability. To examine the correlation between factors and food choice, a multiple linear regression is used. Results: Questionnaire responses from 433 high school students were collected. The response rate in this study is about 89.6% from all recorded responses (483 students) that is sorted by following inclusion criteria. According to characteristics of the respondents, it was found that mean of students’ age were 16 ± 0.91 years old. In nutritional status, it showed that overweight and obese students (z-score > 1 SD) were 14.1%. As for body image perception, only 38.8% students satisfied with their body image and 40% of them were wishing to be thinner. The EFA resulted five food choices in this study namely Health and religion, Price and convenience, Comfort, Weight control, and Familiarity. Among those food choices, students placed Health and religion as the most important one (mean= 3.11 ± 0.94). Physical activity was positively associated with Health and religion food choice (β = 0.306; p-value = 0.001) and Weight control food choice (β = 0.438; p-value < 0.001). Students who frequently accessed the medias, were more likely to choose their food based on price and convenience (β = 0.056; p-value = 0.010) and comfort value (β = 0.044; p-value = 0.042). Stipend given to the students was also positively associated with Comfort food choice (β = 0.018; p-value = 0.003). However, students who wishing to be fatter were less likely to consider weight control motive on their food choice (β = -0.297; p-value = 0.031). It was similar with nutrition knowledge that inversely associated with Familiarity food choice (β = -0.008; p-value = 0.047). Conclusion: High school students emphasised on their health when choosing their foods. The more active the students, the more they put importance on Health and religion as well as Weight control food choices. Also, knowledgeable students in nutrition were more likely to try different foods. Even so, those who were wishing to be fatter, put less importance on weight control motive. As media access and stipend play roles on comfort food choice, food production personnel are expected to enhance those food with more nutrient.